Together with measures like loan write-offs offered by some BJP States and an ostensibly much-improved crop insurance scheme (PMFBY), this hike in MSPs is seen to have confirmed the pro-farmer tilt of the Narendra Modi government. The timing of the Modi government's MSP hike for kharif crops leads to the question of whether it is backed by the financial allocations needed to deliver on them.
    
* This article was originally published in the Frontline Print edition: July 20, 2018.